Cost Accountant

JOB TITLE    COST ACCOUNTANT

DEPARTMENT/SECTION    FINANCE

INDIRECT SUPERVISOR    HEAD OF PROJECTS

PEOPLE & CULTURE

INTERNAL & EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION    INTERNAL (FINANCE, PROJECTS, PROCUREMENT, OPERATIONS TEAMS).

EXTERNAL (AUDITORS, VENDORS, SUPPLIERS).

MAIN PURPOSE OF JOB

Strengthen project financial control by tracking project costs in real time, monitoring actual, committed and forecast costs against approved budgets, and identifying cost overruns, budget variances and margin erosion at an early stage. The role enables management and project teams to act on financial issues while a project is still in progress, rather than discovering losses only at completion or handover, and provides both project-level and portfolio-wide visibility across all concurrent projects.

Key Responsibilities:

• Track project costs in real time as they are incurred, rather than waiting until project completion.
• Monitor actual, committed and forecast costs against the approved project budget.
• Identify cost overruns, budget variances and margin erosion at an early stage.
• Monitor cost-to-complete and provide an early indication of potential losses.
• Provide project managers with timely financial information to support corrective decisions.
• Monitor the profitability and performance of each project individually, while providing management with a consolidated view of the entire project portfolio.
• Strengthen accountability by ensuring project teams understand the financial impact of their decisions.
• Reduce the risk of discovering significant project losses only at handover.
• Maintain and update product/project costing and standard costs per project.
• Capture and analyse material, labour, installation, procurement, and overhead costs.
• Lead month-end cost reconciliations, journals, COGS and cost reporting.
• Prepare monthly cost, profitability, and management reports.
• Work with Procurement, Operations, and Projects to identify cost-saving opportunities.
• Maintain accurate costing data within the ERP/accounting system.
• Support internal and external audits and financial controls.
• Any other tasks as required on a need-to-need basis.

Requirements

QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE & SKILLS

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related discipline.
• CPA, ACCA, CMA, or equivalent professional qualification (or progress towards) is a must.
• At least 2 years' relevant cost accounting or project cost management experience.
• Experience in project/product costing, inventory reconciliation, cost allocation, variance analysis, and margin monitoring.
• Experience working with Finance, Procurement, Operations, and Project teams to control costs and improve profitability.
• Proficiency in ERP/accounting systems and advanced Excel; Zoho experience is an added advantage.
• Excellent attention to detail and numerical accuracy.
• Strong variance analysis and root-cause investigation skills.
• Ability to translate financial data into actionable insights.
• Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills.
• Strong ownership, accountability, and ability to meet deadlines.